New Guitar Lesson – Samba Pa Ti by Santana

The subject of this week's new guitar lesson is one that was requested literally hundreds of times, Samba Pa Ti by Santana. Santana is one of the greatest guitarists of all time, who started out in the 1960s and is enjoying huge popularity to this day.

I've personally been to at least 5 Santana concerts that I can recall off the top of my head, but there were probably more. The next one I'm going to will be in Budapest in August actually, really looking forward to that one as well. The interesting thing about his concerts is that yes, he is the main attraction, but he doesn't really sing or take away the spotlight, he is basically the "brand", plays a couple of nice solos and guitar riffs, and thats about it. But still, seeing him live is really worth it.

Samba Pa Ti Guitar Lesson from Santana's Abraxas Album

So getting back to the subject of this post, our video guitar lesson on Samba Pa Ti will really develop your soloing and lead guitar skills. If you are into the electric guitar, learning this song is a must, as you'll learn a barrage of techniques you'll be using in lots of songs later on as well:

hammer ons and pull offs

trills

unison bends

guitar scales

Once you learn the song itself, your homework will be to get into the theory behind the song.

Samba Pa Ti is played in the key of G major, so it would be a good idea if you brushed up a bit on your guitar scales and relevant theoretical areas. You'll notice that all of the notes you play can actually be played on the G major scale itself, which is a scale you'll need to get familiar with if you want to solo along with the backing track to Samba Pa Ti (available to premium members).

If you find the G major scale a bit difficult, you can solo on the G major pentatonic scale as well, which will sound great as well!

I hope you'll enjoy this weeks lesson, practice a lot, and I'll see you next week, where we'll have another new beginner guitar lesson coming your way.

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TheGuitarLesson.com, created by Tom Fontana, is dedicated to bringing the highest quality guitar tutorials to beginner guitarists. Through creating fun and engaging guitar lessons, we aim to spread our love of the guitar to as many new players as possible.